News Release

London, Chicago, Singapore, MIPIM, Cannes

Improvement in Global Real Estate Transaction Volumes in Second Half 2009 to Accelerate in 2010

2010-03-15T05:00:00Z

Jones Lang LaSalle Issues New Global Real Estate Capital Flows Update

LONDON, CHICAGO, SINGAPORE, MIPIM, CANNES, 15 March 2010 - Global commercial property transaction volumes in the second-half of 2009 showed clear signs of a recovery as all three major regions showed an improvement on H1 2009 volumes, reversing a trend of declining volumes, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s proprietary Global Capital Flows data analysis. However on a full-year basis, 2009 global transaction volumes fell to $US 209 billion, 45% down on 2008. The rate of global volume decline slowed as the drop in 2009 was less pronounced than in 2008 when volumes were down 50 percent compared with the previous year. At the peak in 2007, global transaction volumes amounted to $US 759 billion.

”The increase in global transaction volumes that occurred in the second-half of 2009 in all regions is an encouraging sign, although full year volumes were below 2003 levels so there is still a long road ahead. ,” said Arthur de Haast, head of the firm’s International Capital Group.

2009 Regional Transaction Volumes

In Europe, total transaction volumes in 2009 finished the year at $US 98billion, representing a 41 percent decline from 2008 levels, and a 71 percent decline from the market peak. Asia Pacific, where there is less exposure to the debt crisis experienced the smallest decline in total volumes in 2009, down 23 percent, to $US 66billion, representing a 46 percent decline from the market peak. The Americas faced harsh market realities with 2009 volumes down 64 percent to $US 45billion, representing an 85 drop from the market peak in 2007. For the first time, the Americas fell behind Asia Pacific in global transaction volumes, accounting for just 22 percent of total global volumes.

Steve Collins, managing director of the Americas International Capital Group commented: “The continued drop in the Americas volumes is a result of the lack of liquidity in the market and the spread between buyers and sellers’ expectations. Today, the gap between both sides of the transaction is narrowing and the debt markets are easing to a level where new trades will pick up through 2010. We’ve already toured 20 Japanese and German groups through the coastal US markets looking for prime investment opportunities in 2010.”

In 2009 United States and Japanese investors remained the top two purchasers of direct commercial real estate but 90 percent of that activity was focused on their domestic markets. German investors overtook UK investors as the third largest purchasers of real estate globally. In contrast to the U.S. and Japanese investors, almost half their purchases were cross-border.

Cross-Border Investment Flows

In 2009, domestic investment was more dominant than cross-border trades as investors were risk averse and debt restricted. The largest cross border purchasers of real estate were the global funds, with German investors in second place.

In 2009, South Korean investors became significant purchasers of cross-border real estate their primary focus being the United Kingdom. Indeed Asia Pacific investors as a group significantly stepped up their cross-border acquisitions in the second-half of 2009 targeting the UK, China and Australia.

While the United States remained the largest market in terms of total volumes in 2009, the UK overtook the US as the largest cross-border market in 2009. Apart from the speed of price correction, the UK benefited from the relative weakness of sterling. Investors also like the long leases and strong covenants that are available, as well as the fact that it is a large, transparent market.

In the UK, 54 percent of transactions (in terms of volumes) were made by cross-border purchasers compared to 34% in France, 16 percent in the US, 12 percent in Germany and 11 percent in Japan.

Global Capital Markets Outlook

Focusing on 2010, Arthur de Haast commented: “The path to a global capital markets recovery will be an uneven terrain. We anticipate seeing a 30 to 40 percent increase in direct commercial real estate investment volumes globally. The Americas, coming from a low base, may be poised to see the largest growth at a projected 50 to 60 percent. Expected volume growth in Asia Pacific is 30 to 50 percent and in Europe, the largest regional market in 2009, 20 to 30 percent.”

Notes to Editors

Entity-level transactions, development projects and multi-family residential investment are excluded from our data

Jones Lang LaSalle converts transaction values into USD at the average daily rate for the quarter in which the transaction occurred. In other words, the foreign exchange effect has not been removed.

Cross-border investment is where purchaser, vendor or both originate from outside the country in which the asset is located.

Cross-border investment is classified as ‘intra-regional’ investment (both purchaser and vendor originate from the region where the asset is located) and ‘inter-regional’ investment (purchase, vendor or both originate from outside the region in which the asset is located.

Global Funds are funds which raise capital in multiple regions.

Historic Global Direct Commercial Real Estate Volumes, US$ billion

Year

Americas

EMEA

Asia Pacific

Total

2003

176

150

27

354

2004

185

162

46

393

2005

216

212

67

495

2006

283

322

95

700

2007

304

333

121

759

2008

126

167

85

378

2009

45

98

66

209

About Jones Lang LaSalle Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) is a financial and professional services firm specialising in real estate. The firm offers integrated services delivered by expert teams worldwide to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying or investing in real estate. With 2009 global revenue of $2.5 billion, Jones Lang LaSalle serves clients in 60 countries from 750 locations worldwide, including 180 corporate offices. The firm is an industry leader in property and corporate facility management services, with a portfolio of approximately 1.4 billion square feet worldwide. LaSalle Investment Management, the company’s investment management business, is one of the world’s largest and most diverse in real estate with more than $40 billion of assets under management.